Love and Hate

by erintheartchick

An absent minded vixen finds her way into Knothole and some of the Freedom Fighters have mixed emotions about her. Is she really who she says she is? Or does she have a secret? Meanwhile, Knuckles is on the hunt for more crystals...

1. Elemental Charm

"Elemental Charm"

Love and Hate ~ Part 1 of ?
A Sonic Fan-fiction story
by: Erin Lindsey

Rated PG (suitable for 10 or older) for mild profanity and slight sexual
referances (talks about a girl with big.. uh.. y'knows). If your offened by
any of this, please don't read this now and flame me later!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Authors note!;0

Hello again everybody. Welcome to my newest series! You didn't think
I was just gonna end it with Friend or Foe 5 did ya? Well I'm not, so there.
Thanks for everyones support who has e-mailed me and all those web
publishers out there who want to host my stories on their sites. I love you
all! Anyway, here's da story: Back on the Floating Island, Knuckles tries to
riddle out the 'Story Of the Elements' also known as 'Blame Chaos'. Remember
he found the diamond holding the spirit of peace last time? What will he
find now? And what does a beutiful young girl have to do with all of this?
Everything as far as love-stricken Knuckles has to do with it. Meanwhiles...
Sonic and Sally get in an argument and aren't talking anymore. Sally starts
to wonder if he really has any feelings for her at all. Robotnik tries out
his newest deadly mechanical invention, the evil robotic counterpart of our
hero Sonic, but will our heroes be able to put their emotions aside to save
Mobius once again? Don't look at me! Read the story!

Also, Clawz is still in these stories, 'cept he's only a minor character.
I focus more on Knuckles, Sally, and my new character in this part. If you
have no clue who the (in)famous Clawz Wildcat is, I reccomend you read the
original "Friend or Foe" series that started it all, you can find a compiled
file of all five parts here:

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/8283/friendorfoe.txt
or just check out my name in Tyro's Sonic Fan-Fic Archive!

For those of you newbies, asterisks (*) across the screen means a change in
time or scenery. Things in in apostrophes (') are a characters thoughts.
All legal information and other stuff like that is at the end of this story.

One more thing: This takes place in the year 3035, during the middle of
the Second Great War (Against Robotnik). That would make Sonic and Sally 16,
Tails 10, Knuckles 17, and Clawz 18.


~ Erin Lindsey

Questions, comments, feel like flaming me? E-mail me!
diamondneko@mail.com


On with the show!... Er, I mean story!....

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Chapter One: "The Story Begins"


A planet of war. Desolate and tiny in the black vastness of space. It
almost seemed as if the darkness was about to plunge forth onto the chaotic
world, swallowing it whole with it's own evil. Something kept the darkess
at bay. Be it a tiny glittering star on the surface, only seen from the
millions of miles in space, with the smallest peice of green land that still
existed, and the brightness of the bravest souls that keep it shining with
peace, love, hope, and life, fighting the darkness that forever plunges
forward, threatening to disinigrate their insignificant lives and ruin all
they have fought for. It is this star, made by the ones who look to it, that
shall always keep the spirit flowing within them.



* * * * *



It was a lazy day in the skies above the Eastern Sea of Mobius. The
humid air seemed to hang there, and as you walked you could feel it, almost
like a liquid, streaming across your body. The wind smelled sweet, of wild
flowers, the salty sea, and fresh sap from the trees. The smell wafted
across your nose like a wave in the thick ocean of air. It felt good, so
comfertable and warm, lying there in the soft grass, with only the
cotton-ball clouds above you. It was enough to lull anyone off to sleep...

"Knuckles! What are you doing?!" A voice suddenly repremanded.

The young red echidna who had been lounging on the hill, spung to life
like a alarm clock. He stared distantly at the fire-ant standing with his
hands on his hips on a small rock a few feet in front of him.

The echidna's eyes focused on the ant. His mouth tightened. "Err.. I
was just.. Uhh..." His eyes searched vacantly around him. He spied a thick
leather bound book at his side. He pulled it up in front of his face. "I
was just umm.. Reading this book."

The ant looked skeptical. "Oh really? I never knew anyone could read
in their sleep. You must be a genius." He said, his voice dripping with
sarcasm.

The young echidna coughed indignantly. "Yeah, well." He said, "I do
have you as a teacher, Archimedes."

The ant blinked at him, his expression unchanging. "I never taught
you to be a suck up. Now did I Knuckles?" He said calmly.

"No you didn't, sir." Knuckles retorted. "I must have got it from
the Chaotix, or something."

Archimedes snorted. "Well it shall get you no where with me." He said
stepping off the boulder and walking towards the echidna. He stared at the
book in his lap with intrest. "What is that you're 'reading' there anyway?"

Knuckles glanced down at the object, "Oh, that's just some old book
I found." He said not giving it a second thought. He picked it up and set
it down on the ground in front of the fire ant as he stood up.

"..Old book...?" Archimedes said curiously, he stepped up onto the
cover and looked for a title. The gold printed writing had partially faded
away, and only the imprints and bits of gold dust were left in the edges.
"...'The Story of the Elements'." He read, squinting. There was a sub-title,
but he could barely make it out. "Knuckles... Where did you find this?" He
asked.

"Hmm?" Knuckles was preoccupied again, eating a purple fruit he had
picked from a tree, "Oh, I found it at the entrance of the Chaos Chamber,
after the flood."

"After the flood..?" Archimedes said slowly. He, too, was preoccupied
with his own thoughts.

"Why? What's the matter with it?" Knuckles asked.

"Eh, nothing really... Have you read any of it?" He asked back.

"Naw, it was all wet. The pages were all blurred, and the ones that
weren't, were blank. All most half the pages were blank. Weird, huh?" He said,
reaching for another fruit.

Archimedes pushed open the cover and stood on the corner of the page.
"Well it looks fine to me now." He said, looking at the perfectly dry and
neatly printed page.

"What?" Knuckles said, walking to look over him. "But yesterday it was--"

"Knuckles do you know what this is??" Archimedes asked, excitement
mounting in his voice as he read the title page..

"Yeah, it's a spooky old book, what's your point?" He said simply.

"No, no! This is the book of the legend! Blame Chaos, or as it is
more formerly known, The Story of the Elements!" He said, stepping off and
turning another page.

"Oh." Knuckles said, then paused for a second, "So?" He said.

"SO?!" Archimedes yelled turning to him, "This book has been highly
acclaimed by the guardians for centuries! It's a thousand years old, a story
told over a hundred generations of echidnas!"

Knuckles picked it up and flipped the pages. "What are you talking
about? All the pages but one is blank!" He said setting it down again to show
him. He fanned the pages, and all but white clean pages were after the first,
and only written page. "Besides, this book doesn't look a thousand years
old!"

Archimedes looked perplexed, "But I thought you said only half were
blank when you looked at it the first time..." He said softly.

"They were!" Knuckles said, "At least, I thought they were..."

Archimedes turned to the first page and began to read aloud, "A story
was told long ago, of one who trapped the evil, of one who possessed true
wisdom and spirit of the light, who was able to defeat the demon of all
chaos." He stopped to give Knuckles a nervous glance, "Never again were the
spirits to be free of their prisons, the eight jewels of darkness and light.
For the balance was set for the thousand years, but a thousand was not forever.
One would rise again, to find the eight deities, and save the lands, of the
evil from once again reigning. Only then would it be attained, for the ten
centuries to come. The balance shall be set by the one who obtains true
knowledge and wisdom, and receives the light with unworldly grace. The time
has come to once again live with peace."

They both were silent a moment. Archimedes stared at the book with
even more confusion than Knuckles.

"Live again with peace?" Knuckles said suddenly. "Well that's kind of
weird isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Archimedes said closing the book again.

"I don't think it's a coincidence, do you?" He said.

"What _are_ you talking about?" Archimedes demanded.

"The book mentioning peace, and my finding that diamond." He said.

"Diamond? What diamond?" Now Archimedes was even more confused.

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Knuckles said, "I found this diamond, a
paradox of the emerald. Y'know like chaos and peace. Chaos Emerald, Peace
Diamond."

Archimedes looked like he was about to blow his top. "And you didn't
tell me this because...?" He said, trying to keep his cool.

"Er.. I forgot...?"




* * * * *




"OWW!" A loud voice roared, "For the Gods sake, Snively, watch where
your poking that thing!"

"Sorry, master." Snively grumbled as he pulled his tweezers out of
his master's robotic wrist. "Maybe if you didn't pound your fist so much
I would have to be repairing your hand all the time."

"Maybe if you'd SHUT-UP and stop poking me with that infernal pair of
tweezers I wouldn't be in such a bad mood!" Robotnik snapped back at him.
"Besides, it's was all your fault in the first place! If it wasn't for your
bad timing, we would have captured the hedgehog before he had the chance to
buzz-saw my robotic hand off!"

"Hrumph." Snivley snorted under his breath. If only that stupid hedgehog
and his friends hadn't spoiled his plan, he would be the one bossing Robotnik
around.

"Master Robotnik," Said a deep metallic voice, "I have the midnight
report on the desert rebel base."

"Ah!" Robotnik said happily, swiveling around to face the doorway
where the robot was standing. "Please continue. How did out eradication
of the village go?"

"Beautifully, Master." The robot said, it's blue plating glinting in
the room's dim lighting. "The village was burned to the ground as you ordered
sir."

"And were there any spared?" Snivley asked anxiously. Robotnik
had insisted on killing them all, but if there were survivors of the fire,
maybe he could convince him to roboticize them and put them to use. There
was no point in wasting good potential robot workers.

"I'm getting the list as we speak, Master Robotnik." It said as a
SwatBot walked up beside it. It took a disk from the SwatBot and entered
it into it's data drive. It shifted, to make a rather uncomfortable appearance.

"Yes? Were there any survivors?" Robotnik repeated.

"All known beings are dead, Master Robotnik." It paused, "Except for
one... A female, red fox, sir. All known others were killed by your orders,
Master Robotnik."

"Hmm." Robotnik mumbled, "Well, why isn't she dead?"

"Er... She escaped, Master Robotnik." It said, taking a step back out
the doorway.

"ESCAPED?!" Robotnik snarled pounding his fist on the arm of the
chair, snapping the wires Snively had just repaired.

Snively grumbled obscenities as he turned around and pulled out his
tool box again.

"Catch her, and bring her to me!" Robotnik roared.


* * * * *




It was a seemingly silent night in the Great Forest. It was kind of
an uneasy silence, yet again waiting to burst forth with energy. Like a
tiny burning ember that would soon spread into a massive wildfire. It all
was a bit of a paradox of the usual activity, but it was three o'clock in the
morning, and everyone was deep into dreams by now. Everyone sane, that is.

"Ha ha!" A loud voice yelled from the control room, "Take zat you
fuelish feline!" Antoine said arrogantly, throwing his cards on the table
with a flip of triumph.

Clawz stared at him calmly for a moment. He glanced at the cards
nonchalantly, then slowly spread his own hand on the table. "Oh darn it all,"
He said softly, as though he was talking to a young child, "And all I have
is a Royal Flush!" His big grin spread across his face.

Antoine's look of triumph fell off his face and flat onto the floor.
"What?! How could you be winnings so many?!" He said, crumpling as he looked
at his three queens. "It's eem-poss-eble!"

The wildcat continued to smile. "I know, I know. I'm wonderful ain't
I?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and sliding his sun-glasses off
his forehead and over his eyes.

"Vonderful?" Antoine snorted, "You es the most vain animal I have ever
had ze displeazure of meetings! You even worse zan ze hedgehog!"

"I heard that!" Sonic grumbled, still face down where he had supposedly
fallen asleep on the control panel. "Would you guys shut-up, I'm trying to
sleep here!"

"Yeah, Tony, what cha tryin' to do?" Clawz said punching Antoine on the
shoulder. "Spikes is tryin' to git some shut-eye!"

"Me?! Your ze one whose making the rocket!" Antoine snapped.

"Huh? Wha'd you say?" Clawz said confused. There was definitely a wide
culture gap between the two. Both of them could barely understand a word the
other said.

"He means racket." Sonic muttered, still not opening an eye.

"That's what I was saying, he's making the rocket!" Antoine defended,
but not very effectively.

"Yeah, whatever." Clawz said standing up, "Are you gonna play another
game wit me or what?" Suddenly, as he stood up, five aces fell out of his
belt. "Eh heh..." He mumbled nervously, "How'd those git there?"

"AHA!" Antoine said practically jumping on him, "Cheater! You've been
cheating all zis time! I never play ze poker weeth you again!"

"Guys!" Sonic grumbled, "Will you shut the--"

Suddenly a loud siren-like wail came from the computer speakers
interrupting their argument. Sonic jumped a mile in the air, then, still
half asleep, he fumbled over the control panel pushing buttons and pulling
levers to kill the noise. Finally, he accidentally hit the right button
with his elbow and the loud noise dissipated.

All three of them were silent for a moment as they stared at the
computer screen in bewilderment. Clawz was the once to break the silence.

"What the hell was that?!" He said, rubbing his ears.

"I don't know...." Sonic said cautiously leaning forward to inspect
the computer screen.

"Ees zere a tele-pone ringing somewheres?" Antoine asked, crawling
out from under the card table where he had hidden when the siren sounded.

"Sonic," A dull feminine voice said, seemingly coming from nowhere,
"There are intruders coming into the Knothole proximity at northern perimeter."

"Who said that?!" Clawz said as he searched for the source of the
voice frantically.

"Don't worry, Clawz it's just Nicole." Sonic said picking up a small
computer unit from beside the larger one.

"Wha...?" Clawz said looking over Sonic's shoulder. "Ohhh! Cool a
'Game-Boy'!" He exclaimed, "Do you have Pokemon?"

Nicole answered for herself. "I am not implemented with any entertainment
programs. And I am NOT a 'Game-Boy'." You could almost sense a bit of hostility
in her voice when she said the last sentence. She put emphasis on the 'not'.

"Sorry." Clawz said softly.

"Weel someone please answer zat tele-pone!" Antoine yelled, but they
ignored him and continued.

"There are intruders coming into the Knothole proximity at northern
perimeter." Nicole repeated, her screen flashing. "We must take offensive
action to evade them from crossing our boundaries. Unknown objects or beings
entering our area could cause to be a major problem."

"I guess Sally put this program in after you came in." Sonic said
turning and addressing the big wildcat behind him.

Clawz just laughed and shrugged it off.

"She's right though." Sonic said pointing to the main computer. "There's
somebody, or something coming close to our north side. I better go check it
out. You two go wake up Sally and the others, unless they didn't wake up
when that alarm sounded."

"Yessir!" Clawz said giving him a salute. It felt good to be a part
of a team again. This time a team working for a lot better causes than money
and burglary. "C'mon Tony," He said grabbing Antoine's sleeve, "We gotta
wake everybody up!"

"What?" Antoine yelled, as if to hear his own voice.

"Wake everybody up!" Clawz repeated.

"Fake cranberry soup??" Antoine asked with a more than perplexed
expression on his face.

Clawz rolled his eyes and tugged the confused fox out the door.




* * * * *




Lights flashed through the trees, skimming the forest in search of the
escaped girl. It was dark, and all the insects and other night noises seemed to
have died. Died like everyone else. Died like she would if they ever caught.
She would be killed, or silenced into a life of eternal torment as a robot.
She could hear her own heart thumping in her chest. She couldn't go on much
longer. So tired, so thirsty, so scared... But she had to, maybe if there
was anyone left, she could still help them. She couldn't do it alone, though.

Suddenly a light shone in her face, "Surrender organic being! Priority
three, surrender or be terminated!" A loud robotic voice ordered.

She dashed away seconds before a rain of lasers turned the tree she
was hiding behind into burning splinters. They had been saying that for hours.
They would kill her even if she did surrender. She wasn't about to give up.
Not when she had come so far... They were gaining, and she couldn't run any
longer. They were faster than her, and it had taken all of her strength to
get past them, but now...

Suddenly a huge blue blur whooshed by her and up into a tree.

"Hey, SWAT-butts!" Someone called, "Why don't you pick on someone yer
own speed?"

The robots suddenly halted, "Priority one, destroy!" They all droned,
shooting up into the tree where the voice had come from. The blur dashed
out of that tree faster than she could blink.

She felt so dizzy...

"HA ha!" The blur laughed, as it stopped in front of the bots, "Missed
me! I think you guys need a little target practice!" It was a young blue
hedgehog. A blue hedgehog??

The bots shot at him, but he would always zip away just before the
laser hit him. He went so fast in circle around the four robots, as they
continued trying to shoot him, they accidentally shot each other. Soon they
were all laying in a big sparking pile.

"You guys make it just _too_ easy!" Sonic laughed. He turned around to
see the girl leaning up against a tree. It was too dark to see exactly what
she looked like, but he approached her anyway. "Hey... Are you all right?"
He asked.

She turned to him and just about screamed bloody murder. "YOU! You..
You stay away from m-me!" She yelled backing away.

"Lady, it's okay, don't--" He said, but as he stepped towards her she
turned and began to run. As soon as she did, she tripped over a tree root and
fell, hitting her head on a rock.

Sonic hurried to her and turned her over. She was unconscious. He touched
her forehead, then strained to look at his hand in the moonlight. He saw blood.
He picked her up slowly. 'Damn. How come I always get to carry the bodies?'
he thought, 'At least she isn't heavy as Clawz.' He sped away back towards
Knothole, with the girl in tow.



* * * * *



"See? Isn't it great!" Knuckles said, patting the big white jewel
happily. He and Archimedes were in the Chaos Chamber now, inspecting the
newest addition, a large diamond, which Knuckles had said to be the contrast
of the Chaos Emerald. In other words, this certain diamond represented a
un-warlike, or peaceful spirit.

"Well it certainly is a sight." Archimedes said taking off his hat
and scratching his head. "Very beautiful, too." He added, "May I ask where
you found it?"

"Nack the Weasel had it. I don't know how. He must have found it some
where and stolen it, not even knowing what exactly it was." Knuckles said,
"He'd steal anything that glitters."

"Hmmm. Interesting." Archimedes mumbled. 'It was a marvel they had
even lived through the flood, but Knuckles had saved them in the nick of time.
His father had even doubted his son's abilities, but now Knuckles has shown
to be quite surprisingly able with his duties, or even more so. And now he
had found a diamond the size of the Chaos Emerald. Why hadn't Locke foreseen
any of this? Or maybe he did and just didn't tell me...' Archimedes thought.

"I can feel it even now..." Knuckles said, leaning down and putting
the side of his face up against the top of the diamond. "It's a great feeling.
Come up here." He said, picking the fire ant up and setting him beside him.

Definitely it was. He could feel a surprising warmth, but then a
soothing coolness, that washed over your body in gentle waves giving you an
altogether calm and dreamy feeling. It almost made you want to fall asleep,
not at all like the powerful rush that you got from the Chaos Emerald. Maybe
Knuckles was right about it's being a Diamond of Peace.



* * * * *



"Well, where is she?!" Robotnik roared, his voice echoing though the
metallic hallways.

"Well er.. Master Robotnik.." The hedgehog robot stammered, "It seems
that.. Eh, according to this report... The hover-units that we sent after
her were... Well... Demolished."

"WHAT?!" Robotnik yelled.

"It seems, sir, that the Freedom Fighters are behind this. The hover
bots went offline around the edge of the Great Forest around the area where
we belive their base is located."

"Horrid animals!" He growled. "That hedgehog shall pay for this!!"
He turned and glared at the blue robotic hedgehog in front of him. "I did
not constuct you to fail, Mecha." He growled angrily.

The robot stepped backwards. "Sir, sir! No don't get hasty now! I
have come up with a plan to catch both the girl, and the Freedom Fighters!"

Robotnik's face lit up. "Ahh, my wonderful creation! I'm all ears
for this brilliant plan of yours!" He said grinning evilly.

"It's all very simple really." The robot said, his ego returning. "The
girl will want to return to her home, the one that we destroyed, to search
for her family. Living beings are sentimental like that, all except for you
Master Robotnik."

Robotnik was still grinning. "Of course, of course. I am superior."

"Anyway, she'll probably get the Freedom Fighters to help her. So,
all we do is set up camp there, and wait for the insects to fly into the
spider-web." He explianed proudly.

"Ah Mecha, you could only be my genius creation!" Robotnik praised.




* * * * *



Sonic had entered Knothole again to find everyone standing in
a crowd in the open courtyard. Seeing him, they all instantly crowded around
him asking questions all at once. Sally pushed her way through the crowd.

"Sonic!" She yelled. "What in the world is going on around--" Suddenly
she noticed he was carrying someone. Something was dripping off her head,
and it only took her a second to realize it was blood. "Oh my God!" She
yelped, "What happened?"

"Yeah Sonic, what didja do to her?" Clawz asked.

"I saved her that's what!" He snapped back defensively, "She fell and
hit her head. We better get her to the infermary."

"Everybody move back!" Sally ordered, pushing the crowd away. "We got
a injured animal here!"

Everyone did as they were told, but continued asking questions. Most
of the questions were "What happened?, "Who is she?" and Antoine asking for
"Someone to answer that tele-pone!"

They quickly made their way to the medical center.




* * * * *




Chapter Two: "Forgive and Forget"




Suddenly a strong smell flooded her nose. She snorted and pushed
the small bottle away from her face. She opened her eyes to find several
people leaning over her.

"Good, good." A big yellow duck said, "That woke her up." He put a
cork in the bottle of Epsom salts.

"Wha.. What... Where am I?" The girl asked softly.

"Shhh, now dear." Rosie said, putting a wet cloth on her forehead.
"We just wanted to make sure you could wake up again. You got quite a bump
on the head. The doctor thought you might have gone into a coma. Go back to
sleep now."

"A Doctor? Am I in a hospital?" The girl asked, ignoring the elderly
woodchuck's words.

"Well sort of." Rosie said. "You're exhausted, dear. You need to
sleep now. Sorry we woke you up."

"But.. But I.. I have to..." She said.

"Here, this'll help her rest." The doctor said.

The girl felt a sharp pain in her arm then she suddenly felt overwhelmingly
sleepy. She closed her eyes and instantly fell into a deep sleep. She didn't
wake up until noon the next day.

She sat up slowly and looked around the white, clean, and unfamiliar
room. She felt something on her head. She put her hand to her forehead and
touched it gingerly. A bandage. It was sore. Her whole body was sore as a
matter of fact. She had bruises and small cuts all over her. She pulled the
cover off her and slowly stood up beside the bed. She noticed she wasn't
wearing any clothes. She felt cold, scared, and alone...

"Oh good! You've awakened!" Rosie said as she carried a meal tray into
the room. "How do you feel today?" She asked, setting it on a small table
at the bedside.

"Owch." The girl said as she sat back down on the side of the bed.

"Yes, I see. You look a bit beat up, poor thing." Rosie said sitting
beside her. "Why were all those SwatBots chasing you, anyway?"

The girl turned and gave her a confused look, "Swat.. Bots...?" She
said slowly.

"Yes. Sonic said those were the robots that were chasing you."

"Sonic? Robots? I don't remember that..." She mumbled.

"Really?" Rosie said, growing with concern, "What do you remember?"

She stared down at the floor with a tightened expression. "I.. I don't
remember anything... Except you and the doctor and... And that I was supposed
to do... Something..." She mumbled, trying hard to think, but it was all too
cloudy.

"Doctor!" Rosie called out the door, "You're patient has waken up!"

He walked in casually, carrying his medical bag. A nurse followed him
carrying another tray with medicine and syringe injection fluid on it.

"Well hello again, young lady!" He said addressing the girl.

She said nothing, but just frowned.

"She seems to be experiencing some amnesia, Doctor Quack." Rosie said.

"Amnesia, eh?" He said almost cheerfully, "It's been a long time since
I've had one of these!" He bent down and pulled out a magnifying glass and
inspected her eyes. "Tell me my dear," He said as he put on his stethoscope,
"What is your name?"

"I.. I don't know..." She said softly.

"Mmm hmm. Do you know how old you are?" He asked, pausing momentarily.

"No. I.. I don't remember anything." She said.

"Do you know what year it is?" He asked.

"I don't remember anything." She repeated, beginning to grow annoyed.

The doctor leaned forward and put the circle end of his stethoscope
to her. She flinched and pulled away, giving him an absolutely violated
glare.

"Now don't worry dear." Rosie said soothingly, "He's just trying to
check your heart beat."

She eased a little, but still felt uncomfortable when he put that
cold piece of metal against her breast. She made a disgusted face and watched
him very closely, making sure he wasn't enjoying it. She had all ready
decided she didn't like him very much.

"Perfectly normal." The doctor said, taking off his stethoscope and
putting it back into his bag. "Those wounds should heal easily." He said
nodding to her head, and the bruises on her arms and legs. "You should get
cleaned up. Take a shower or something. There's only so much we can do about
your memory though. It might return, it might not. Just keep an open mind."

She nodded sadly.

"Here, take this. It'll help the scarring and the bleeding on your
head there." He said handing her some pills and a glass of water off the
nurses' tray. "I would also like to take a blood sample to do further tests,
and for records, and DNA identification."

The girl looked rather agitated, but let the nurse give her the shot.
She flinched and rubbed her arm after, but didn't make a big fuss. She took
the pills as the doctor and his nurse left.

"Are you all right?" Rosie asked.

"Fine. Just a little scared I guess." She mumbled.

"That's reasonable." Rosie said standing up, "Come on. We'll go get
you cleaned up now, okay?"

She nodded and began to follow her out the door.

Rosie stopped her. She stared at the girl for a moment with perplexidy.
Her eyes looked her up and down.

Uhh... Maybe we should get you some clothes first."



* * * * *



Sally sat at her desk with her small computer Nicole flipped open.
Beside the unit was a petri dish with a red substance in it. Sally pulled
out a small tab implement out of Nicole's side and used a q-tip to put a
drop of the liquid onto it. She then slid it back into Nicole's side.

"Nicole," She said, "Analyze blood sample and match with DNA readings
to all known Mobians existing before the Coup."

It was a blood sample the doctor had given her from the girl Sonic
had saved the night before.

"Analyzing, Sally." Nicole said, and beeped softly as screens of numbers
flashed down her screen. After a couple of seconds, it stopped. "Sample
analyzed. Three known closely related DNA samples taken before the take
over. One exact match." Nicole droned.

"Show exact match, Nicole." Sally said.

A profile popped onto the screen. There was a birth certificate, and
DNA readings. Sally scrolled back up to the original profile. "Oral report,
Nicole." She said, then sat back to listen.

"Name: Shelia ClearWaters, species: red fox/squirrel hybrid. Daughter
of Ceclia Minora ClearWaters and Lt. Commander James ClearWaters. Born:
February 7th, 3019. Declared dead, or roboticized at age six, two months
after Robotnik's takeover."

"Interesting. Save file. Show profiles of other related DNA samples."
Sally said, raising an eyebrow.

"Name: James R. ClearWaters. Species: red fox vulpine. Commander
Lt. of the fourth artillery squadron in the Great War against the
Overlanders. Married Cecilia Minora August 24th, 2995. Died during battle
on May 17th on duty in the last year of the war." Nicole reported.

'That must be her father. A war commander, eh?' Sally thought to herself,
'This could prove useful.' She tapped the page down button for the next
profile.

"Name: Cecilia Minora. Species: common eastern squirrel. Married
James ClearWaters August 24th, 2995. Mother of two children, Jeremy and
Shelia ClearWaters. Declared dead or roboticized at age 49, two months after
Robotnik's take over."

Sally pressed page down again.

"Name: Jeremy R. ClearWaters. Species: red fox/squirrels hybrid. Born:
August 17th, 3014. Son of James and Ceclia ClearWaters. Admitted into
Mobotropolis Armed Forces Academy at age 8. Declared dead or roboticized
at age 10, two months after Robotnik's take over."

'This is weird.' Sally thought, 'Why does Nicole say all these animals
are supposed to be dead, when we just found one of them still alive?'

She pondered a while then saved all the files and shut-down Nicole.
She clipped the small computer onto her boot and headed out the door. She
opened the door and right as she was about to step out, Nicole went to
beeping. She bent down and flipped it open again.

"What's the problem Nicole?" She said, a bit agitatedly.

"Incoming message, Sally." Nicole said.

Sally was a bit surprised. "Now who would be sending me a message?" She
said, pushing a couple buttons.

Clawz, Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine were sitting in the courtyard. Clawz
and Bunnie were arguing about something, but stopped when they overheard
Sally's thinking out loud. They walked over to see what was up.

"Yo, Sal!" Sonic said standing beside her, "Who's the message from?"

"Wow! the game-boy's a mail-box too!" Clawz said.

Nicole promptly sent a shock wave through him.

"Nicole!" Sally scolded.

"Sorry, Sally. I couldn't help myself." She said.

Bunnie laughed, "Serves ya right, ya Yankee!" She said to the now
crispy wildcat.

He grimaced. "Ah, go back to yer plantation..." He growled.

"Are vous inzulting moui lady?" Antoine growled back, stepping between
the two of them.

"Quiet all of you!" Sally demanded. They all followed orders, but
gave each other nasty side-glances. "It's from the Floating Island. I've
established the link. Here goes." She said and switched to hologram mode.

"Sally?" Knuckles said as he appeared.

"Knux!" Clawz said happily.

"Oh, hey there Clawz!" Knuckles said smiling. "How've you been?"

"Great, man! This place is a paradise compared t'where I usually hang."
He said. "I got me a place uh my own!"

"That's cool Clawz, but I really called to talk to the Princess..." He
said, a bit reluctantly.

"Oh, sorry there L.P.," He said to Sally, "Didn't mean t'innterupt er
nothin'." L.P. was Clawz's name for her. It stood for 'Little Princess'.

Sally sighed. She hated when he called her that, but said nothing. He
was trying to be polite. She turned back to the hologram and spoke to Knuckles,
"Yes? What's the matter?" She asked.

"Nothings the matter. I've been meaning to ask you for use of your
laboratory facilities. I also need to ask a few questions to your ranks." He
said, converting to professional mode.

"Pertaining to what?" Sally asked, a little confused.

"The diamond I found. I was hoping Rotor could run some more tests."
He said, "And I'd like to ask around and see if anyone else you know has
ever seen anything like it, that is, if you don't mind..."

"Of course not, Knuckles." She said, "Your always welcome here."

Sonic snorted and gave Sally a stare, but she didn't seem to notice.

"When will you be coming?" She asked cheerfully.

"The island's course should take by your forest in a couple of days."
He paused to think a minute, "Ah, about three days. Thursday, probably around
the middle of the day. That all right?"

"That's great." She said smiling. "I'll be looking forward to seeing
you again."

"Yeah, me too, Sally." He said, then vanished, as she cut the computer
off and clipped Nicole onto her boot again.

Sonic looked like he was going to explode. "What did you do that for?!"
He asked angrily, "We've got a mission that day! And... And we don't need
HIM sticking his big nose in!"

"Aw, come on Sonic." She said already walking away. "How come you
still don't trust him? He's our friend! It's only a simple maintenance mission,
and we can postpone it a day. Besides, maybe he'll be able to help us, too."

Sonic ran after her, "Yeah, well, you don't have to get so friendly
with him, ya know!" He snapped.

She sighed, "Don't be like that. You get jealous anytime he's around."

Sonic frowned, "I do not!" He insisted, "He's just.. I just don't
like him that much anyway. I know you and him used to--"

"Sonic, we've already had this conversation! But if you want to bring
it up again, I might not say the same thing!" She said stopping suddenly
and turning to face him.

"Whatta you mean?" He said, stopping right in front of her.

"I mean maybe I do have feelings for Knuckles. Maybe I'd rather be
with him than you. At least he's definitely more level-headed than you!" She
said shaking a finger at him.

Sonic looked taken aback for a moment, then grew even more angry.
"Oh yeah?" He growled, not able to come up with much else.

"Yeah!" Sally retorted, and slammed the door to the infermary in his
face. Sonic just stood there staring at the door with frustration.

"Don't let her get yah down, Sugah-Hog." Bunnie said, putting her
normal hand on his shoulder. All the others had followed them, hoping to
over-hear a bit of the action. "Ah'm sure she's just a-tryin' ta make yah
jealous, that's all." Bunnie said comfortingly.

"Yeah." Sonic said softly. "I wish.. I wish I could just... Never mind."
He said then sped off to the power ring pool.

"They do that a lot?" Clawz asked.

"Oui." Antoine said, "They always be fightings. I've never be understanding
what she sees en heem." He said dryly.

"Oh, come on, Sugah." Bunnie said to him, "Sonic is a real nice guy.
Him and Sally-girl just don't see eye to eye on uh few things, that's all."

"Whatever." Clawz said, still a bit confused. "Let's go after Sally
and see what she's up to."

"Ah don't know if'n we should. She might wanna be by herself fer a lil'
while." Bunnie said.

"Well, I'm going to see what's up." Clawz said, ignoring her and
beginning to open the door.

"Ah said, I think we should wait uh'while." Bunnie said sternly, grabbing
his arm and pulling him back.

"Hey! Lay off will ya! You tryin' to crush m'arm er somtin'??" Clawz
asked angrily, thowing her robotic hand off him.

"Well maybe Ah wouldn't have'ta if'n you'd just listen to me!" She said.

"Maybe I did listen, but I jus couldn't understand ya!" He snapped back.

"Me? Look who's talking, Yankee!" She said, "Why don't you just take
yer big, mangy Yankee hide outta here and go back where you came from!"

"Mangy?!" He growled, "Well at least I don't look like a walkin' tin
can!" He snapped.

That did it. Bunnie slapped him right across the mouth with her robotic
hand, sending him flying through the doors. Then she ran off in the other
direction.

"What in the world--?" Sally said as she walked out into the hall to
find Clawz laying on the floor in front of her. Suddenly Antoine jumped
into the hall and grabbed Clawz by the neck.

"You idiot! You have 'urt ze feelings of moui Bunnie!" He growled.

Clawz pushed him away and stood up and rubbed his jaw. Sally rushed in
between them before anything else could happen.

"What is going on here!?" She demanded.

"He's be dizgracing my lady!" Antoine yelled.

"What?" Sally asked.

"He call-ed my Bunnie 'ten walking cans'!" He said.

It took Sally a moment to get his meaning. Bunnie was half-roboticized
when she was young, but Sonic was able to save her before the process was
completed. Even though she now possessed super-strength in her robotic limbs,
Bunnie still saw it as a burden on her back. She felt forever scarred with
a monstrosity.

Clawz said something but it didn't come out right. He grabbed his
mouth in pain. There was a snap as he popped his jaw back into place.

"Antoine! Did you hit him?" Sally asked in surprise.

"No." He said a bit sheepishly, "Bunnie's be doing zat."

Sally tuned back to the wildcat, "Well you deserve it! How dare
you make fun of something she can't help!"

"She insulted me first!" Clawz defended.

"It doesn't matter!" Sally snapped, "How would you like it if someone
made fun of a disability you had? That's like insulting a blind man for
not being able to see! Even if Bunnie doesn't really have a disability, she
certainly still isn't secure when people make fun of her!"

"But I--" Clawz started.

"But nothing!" Sally interrupted, "Here in Knothole we're a team, and
we get along! Even if we do have out differences, we are a team, no matter
what!"

"Aw c'mon L.P., you were just fighting yourself!" Clawz said.

She stopped, suddenly realizing she was contradicting herself. She
had only fought with Sonic five minutes ago. She sighed sadly. "We all make
mistakes and say things we really don't mean. We remember others have feelings
too. We apologize when we know we were wrong. I want you to apologize to
Bunnie." She said softly.

Clawz frowned, but nodded anyway. He started to walk out the door, but
stopped and said something to Antoine. Antoine looked rather shocked. Clawz
continued on and walked out the door. Antoine walked up beside the Princess.

"What did he say to you?" She asked.

Antoine paused a moment, "He zaid zat he enjoyed playing ze cards with
me, and zat he's was sorry for cheating." He said, confused.

Even Sally was shocked. "Wow. I was afraid I didn't get through to him,
but I guess I'm a better parent than I thought." She said, "He's a good guy,
just a little mixed up. I guess it's just hard for him to show it. Now if
you'll excuse me Antoine, I've got some of my own apologizing to do.."




* * * * *



There was a knock at the door.

"Legs, you in there?" Clawz called through the closed door.

"Go away!" She yelled not even taking her face out of the pillow.

"Lemme in. I wanna talk to ya..." He said.

"Well, Ah don't wanna talk to you! Go away!" She yelled, sniffling.

"Aw, c'mon. Please? Just hear me out will ya?" He asked softly.

"No! Go away and leave me alone!" She repeated.

"All right then, I'll just say what I wanted to say through these
doors." He said stubbornly, then he sighed and his voiced changed all
together. "I came to say... To say that I'm sorry."

Bunnie didn't move.

"I really am. I didn't mean to say that. I was just mad, that's all.
I don't think your a 'walking tin can'. You're really pretty actually." He
said. Surprisingly, he really did mean it, and even more surprisingly, he
wasn't using any slang as he spoke. "It was a stupid thing to say, and I'm
sorry." He said softly, leaning up against the door.

Bunnie sat up and stared at the door. She wiped her eyes.

Clawz continued, "I mean, I guess I've been kind of hard on everybody
lately. Especially you and Tony. I guess I'm used to it, being who I am, or
who I was." He paused. "I've been real confused lately. I never had any real
friends like all you guys are to each other. I guess I was mad at myself,
and I took it out on you. I don't really fit in around here, do I?" He
admitted laughing. It was a fake laugh.

Bunnie stood up.

"Maybe I should leave." He said, "Go back where I came from, like you
said. I.. I don't belong here. Nack was right. All I'll ever be is a thief
who nobody wants."

Suddenly the door opened and he fell backwards into the doorway and
lay stunned on the floor with Bunnie looking down at him.

She knelt down beside him. "Ah don't want you to leave." She said,
"Ah forgive you... Even if you are uh Yankee."

Clawz smiled. "Really?" He asked.

"'Course I do!" She said, smiling too.

He sat up.

"You already are more than uh thief nobody wants." She said.

"Are you saying you 'want' me?" He said smiling his usual smile again.

Bunnie hit him over the head with her pillow.




* * * * *



"Hey Tails, have you seen Sonic?" Sally asked as she met him walking
along the woodland paths.

"Yeah, Aunt Sally, he was at the Power Ring Pool a minute ago. I went
to talk to him, but he was in a pretty bad mood." He said looking up at her.

"Yeah, I know why, too." She said softly.

"Why?" Tails asked innocently.

"Me, that's why. We had a fight." She admitted.

"Oh. I kinda figured that." He said. "He said Knuckles was coming."

Sally smiled, "You get smarter every time I blink." She said patting
him on the head, "Now, scoot. I want to talk to him alone, if you don't mind."

"All right, Aunt Sally. Good luck!" He said and flew away.

"Thanks." She said, "I'll probably need it."

She walked a little further until she came to clearing. There was a
clear blue pond in the center, with a big log overhanging one side of it.
The log reached out over the pool all the way to the center. If you stained
your eyes a bit you could see the small vessel located at the pond's bottom,
and atop it, was a shining blue stone. This was the machine that Sonic's
Uncle Chuck had made to create small golden hoops, or Power Rings, that
could give Sonic a boost of power when he needed it most. That's why this
place was called the Power Ring Pool.

Sonic was sitting at the end of the log staring into the water. He
looked up as Sally entered. He glared at her for a second, then went back
to staring at the pool. She walked around the edge of the water and sat at
the opposite end of the log. Just as she was about to say something, Bunnie
and Clawz came running into the clearing. They picked up rocks and started
throwing them at each other like playing children.

"Ack! No you don't!" Bunnie squealed, between peals of laughter.
Clawz tried to pick her up and throw her in the pool. "Don't you dare! Ah'll
sink like uh stone!"

He continued anyway, but she was to heavy for him. She grabbed his
arm and easily tossed him over her head and into the water instead. Antoine
arrived just in time to get splashed. His uniform got drenched.

Clawz came up sputtering wildly. He practically flew out of that water.
"No fair!" He yelled. He shook off quickly and resumed chasing Bunnie around
in circles. She couldn't talk she was laughing so hard.

"What en ze name of Mobius iz goings on around 'ere?!" Antoine asked.

"Either they've made up or they're fighting very strangely." Sally said,
giving the two a confused glare.

"Vell, I think they've both gone nutz!" Antoine said.

"All right! Times!" Bunnie called. They both stopped suddenly and
stood panting and smiling beside one another. They tried to put on straight
faces, but either one would start laughing and make the other laugh.

"Look! You've soak-ed my bones!" Antoine scolded.

"Yeah Bunnie, what ya tryin' t'do?" Clawz said sarcastically, elbowing
her playfully.

She laughed, "Sorry Sugah!" She said, "Didn't mean t'get ya'll wet,
just this here crazy critter." She said, elbowing Clawz back.

"Your right Ant, I think they have gone nuts." Sonic said.

"Vell, anyway..." Antoine started rolling his eyes, "I came down 'ere
to tell vou zat ze girl iz awakened." He said, squeezing the water from his
coat.

"You mean the girl I saved?" Sonic asked.

"Oui, that iz whom I'm meaning." Antoine said stiffly, "Now eff you
have gotten all ze silliness out of vous..." He said giving Bunnie and Clawz
a glance, "Rozie wants uz to meet her."

They all began to follow him as he left, heading to the main courtyard
where they had been before. Sonic started down the log then stopped when he
saw Sally standing at the end. They stared at each other for a moment, then
Sonic jumped off the log onto the shore. Sally felt hurt as he turned his
back to her and began to follow the others. She opened her mouth to stop him,
but decided to wait. She could apologize later. Right now she had some
questions for that girl he saved last night...




* * * * *




"Oh, wow!" She girl said softly as she and Rosie stepped into the
open courtyard. "So many trees! Are we in a forest?"

Rosie nodded. "The Great Forest. Are you sure you're all right?"

She smiled weakly, "Yeah, I feel a lot better after that bath. Thanks
for finding me some clothes." She said, picking at her sleevless pink dress.

"Well I'm just glad we could find something that fits you while your
original clothes are being washed." Rosie said. "Most younger animals like
you don't wear any clothes."

"Maybe I should've not worn them then." She said, feeling a bit misplaced.

"Oh, no no, my dear. You look er.. Perfectly fine." Rosie said, trying
to ease her mood. "You have reasons to be a little modest..."

The girl blushed. She knew Rosie was talking about her body. She had
found out when she got her first look at herself in a mirror that she was
a very well built female. She did feel more comfortable in clothes. Besides,
it was cold outside.

"Well, I'm sure you'll like it here." Rosie said

"I hope so... I feel kinda out of place." She said.

"Our little team is made up of animals probably of your age. They're
very nice, and I'm sure they'll make you feel welcome." Rosie said reassuringly.
"I told them to come here and meet you."

"Oh, is that them?" She said pointing behind her.

Rosie turned to see Antoine and the others just coming out of the
woods. She smiled. "Yes. Come over here, dear." She said, motioning for the
girl to follow. They walked into the center of the courtyard and stood
waiting for the others to meet them.

Sonic was walking with his head down. The more he thought about what
Sally had said to him, the madder he got. She was just trying to make him
jealous. He hated when she did that. He frowned sadly. Or maybe what she
said was true...

Clawz's wispered exclamtaion innterrupted his thoughts. "Woah, man!"
He said leaning back to him, "Is _that_ the chick you saved?"

"Huh?" Sonic said looking up. At first he was confused at the wildcat's
meaning, but then he set eyes on the girl.

She was beautiful. She was a brilliant scarlet-furred vixen. She had a
slender build and an elegant emerald green eyes shone in the soft, dimming
light that cascadded over her like waves as the leaves in the trees above her
moved with the gentle breeze. Her face was a delicate white, thin and clean.
She looked like she would break if touched, so fragile was her smile. She
had a full and mature bust, and shapely hips that flowed into her legs with
soft and sexy curves. Her blonde and brown hair was thick, with long wavy
locks that ended at her shoulder blades in little curls.

"W-wow..." Sonic mumbled. He took a moment to stop staring and collect himself.

Antoine was the first to greet her. "Bonjor Madmosele, eet is being a
pleazure to meet vou." He said as bowed to her. "Moui name iz Antoine
D'Coolete, vou may called me Antoine."

"Nice t'meet you too..." She said, looking a bit confused, "I.. I
don't know my name..." She said softly. "They say I have amnesia."

"Well ain't dat a shame?" Clawz said practically pushing Antoine out
of the way. "M'Name's Clawz, but you can call me anything you want.." He
said winking at her.

She frowned, "Uh, yeah, sure..." She said.

Sally rolled her eyes, then spoke up "My name is Sally, and I think I
may have something that will intrest you." She said addressing the girl.

"Really?" She asked. "About what?"

"I did some research using your blood sample. Your DNA exactly matches
that of a Shelia ClearWaters, whom supposedly died after Robotnik's takeover."
She said a bit suspiciously. "Does any of that ring a bell?"

"Shelia...?" The girl asked herself. "That does sound familiar... But
all that other stuff... I don't know what your talking about..."

'How convientient.' Sally thought coldly. 'I bet she's a spy working
for Robotnik. And what nerve has she got, strutting in here and disturbing
the peace?' She grew a bit jealous 'And where did she get that body? She's
just a big show off. I wish I looked like that...'

"What was your name again?" The girl asked, "Sally? That's kind of
a plain name, isn't it?"

Suddenly Sally felt like punching her in the stomach.

Bunnie cleared her throat. "Ah'm Bunnie." She said extending her
robotic hand to shake. 'Shelia' gasped.

She had not noticed Bunnie before, but now she was a bit frightened.
"Oh.. My..." She said softly, "What.. What happened...?"

Bunnie stiffened. She pulled her robotic hand away, and extened her
normal one. "Ah wus half-roboticized." She said trying to smile, "Ah won't
bite." She hated how people always reacted like this to her. What a way to
make a first impression.

The girl reached out and shook her hand tentively. 'How awful...' She
thought, but said, "Nice to meet you."

Sonic stepped up and kissed her hand warmly.

A little too warmly Sally thought.

"Hello, Shelia." He said, standing up straight again. "We don't get
beautiful visitors like you often."

Suddenly Sally felt like punching Sonic in the stomach.

"Oh, thank you." Shelia said blushing.

"Why don't I show you around Knothole?" He offered.

She smiled, "That's awfully nice of you."

"Uh, Sonic..." Sally said eyeing him, "I wanted to ask her some
questions first."

"Aw, c'mon Sal. Don't be such a stiff. You can ask her questions later."

"I wanted to ask them NOW." She said, trying not to raise her voice.

Shelia looked a bit caught up. "Er.. Maybe I should just go back--"

"No, no!" Sonic urged, "It'll be all right. Won't it Princess?" He
said bitterly. Sonic only used her formaility to address her when he was
angry.

"Princess?" Shelia asked surprised. She turned to Sally, "Your a
princess?!"

Sally sighed. "Yes, yes I am." She said, cooling off a bit. "Princess
Sally Alicia Acorn. So what?" She practically spat.

"Oh, wow! I'm so sorry your majesty! I didn't know!" She said, curtseying.

"Please.. Please, just call me Sally." She said.

"Of course, your-- er, I mean Sally." She said. "Maybe I should go with
you first, if it's important..."

Sally sighed again. "I.. I don't care. Go with Sonic for now. I'll
talk to you later." She said walking away. "I have a headache..."




* * * * *




"I have asked Princess Sally for access to her labs down in Knothole.
I thought I would stay there a couple of days and ask the others about the
diamond. I'd also like to ask Clawz some questions..." Knuckles said.

"Very good. We'll round up the Chaotix to guard the island while your
gone. If you don't mind me asking, who is this Clawz character?" Archimedes
asked, as he sat atop the thick leather book.

Knuckles looked a little uncomfertable. "Er... Well, he was my friend
when I was a kid."

Archimedes looked surprised. "Really...? That's interesting. I thought
as a child and aprintice guardian you were to be isolated with your father."
He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh.. Yeah, I was... Supposed to..." Knuckles said.

"You mean you did anyway!?" Archimedes choked.

"Maybe... All right, yes I did." Knuckles admitted. "Twice."

"Twice?!" Arcmides yelled.

"C'mon Archimedes, don't blow your top! That was a long time ago..."
Knuckles said, trying to calm the fire ant.

"Your apprinticeship is one of the most important time of development
for a Guardian! How could you ruin it?" He continued.

"I was young and lonely... and a little stupid, but all I wanted back
then was a friend. You've gotta understand, they were the only friends I have
ever had before I met the Chaotix..." He said.

Archimedes sighed. "That's understandable... But, Knuckles it's against
the sacred rule. You know that." He said.

"Well, what do you want me to do now? I can't change what happened
ten years ago." Knuckles defended turning away from him.

"I know you can't. But everyone still pays for their mistakes, even
if they were commited ten years ago." Archimedes said sternly.

Knuckles sat up straight, "So your going to punish me?" He asked
sarcastically.

Archimedes stern expression didn't change. "Maybe I am." He said.

Knuckles looked surprised, "What? You can't do that!"

"I have the athority." He said stubbornly. "You are under my tutelage."

"But Archimedes, I can't get punished now! I have to go to Knothole.
Princess Sally was the first..." Knuckles stopped.

"Yes? Continue." He said, suddenly growing interested.

Knuckles hesitated, but then spoke, "Sally was the first animal I
ever met that was my age. I met her while her father and her were visiting
the Floating Island on vacation. It was cool to have someone to relate to,
her being rolaty and all. We had a lot in common. She was the first girl I
ever met too..."

"Ah, I think I see. Puppy love, eh?" Archimedes said smiling.

Knuckles turned even redder than usual. "No.. Not really, I mean uh.."
He mumbled.

"And you never told your father about this?" Archimedes said.

"No way!" Knuckles said, "Dad would've never undersood. I told Sally
all by myself that I couldn't see her anymore. I knew it was against the
rule to be with her, so I told her. But I regretted later when I heard
Mobotropolis had been destroyed. I thought she was dead. Dad did know about
Clawz though."

'Yes. He must be the little theif Locke was talking about.' Archimedes
thought. 'The one whose father tried to steal the Chaos Emerald.'

"When I told him about it, he blew up, just like I knew he would. I
was grounded for more than a month." Knuckles continued.

Archimedes smiled, "I guess you have been punished enough." He said.
"I know how it feels to be lonely, and I'm sure your father did too, but
you must understand when you get back from Knothole we'll be going over the
all the rules and rites until you've rememorized them." He said.

Knuckles grumbled, but he knew he was getting off easy. "Thanks." He
said standing up, "I'm going to go find Mighty and the others. Do you want
to come?"

"No thanks. I have some... Work to do." He said and dissapeared in
a grey puff of smoke.



* * * * *



Chapter Three: "The Girl with a Gun"



Sally was sitting in her room again. Nicole was set up on the desk,
but Sally was not working. A screen saver of falling rain was on the screen.
It matched Sally's mood. The last couple of days had been nothing but work
and misery. They had gone on three recon missions, but all had failed. One
more of their ranks had been roboticized. Not to mention Sonic and her were
still fighting. He seemed to always be busy with the new girl, Shelia, all
the time.

'What a jerk he is.' She thought, 'I bet he's just doing all of this
to get back at me. I wish he didn't have to be so persistent about, though.'
She smiled, 'Ha! Look at me! Jealous of that little tramp. I guess this is
how Sonic feels when I talk about Knuckles or Geoffery.' She sighed. 'I wish
I could dig up some dirt on Shelia. She might be putting on an act. I bet
she's lying about having amnesia. Or maybe she was a spy before she got hit
on the head and she truly can't remember. Or maybe I'm just being suspicious.
Maybe she's as harmless as she seems to be.'

There was a knock at the door.

Sally sat up on her bed where she had been laying with her hands under
her head, staring up at the celing. She looked at the door. "Who is it?" She
called. She hoped it was Sonic.

"You in thar Sally-girl?" Bunnie called.

"Oh, it's just you, Bunnie. Come in." She said flopping back down.

"Well, Ah'm happy to see y'all too!" Bunnie said, a little hurt.

"Sorry. I was hoping you were Sonic come to apologize." Sally said.

"Now, Sally-girl, don't you think this' gone on long enough?" Bunnie
asked, "I mean, you and Sugah-hog have had yer fights, but none really like
this. You haven't been speakin t'him fer days."

"I know, I know." Sally said, "I wish he would say he's sorry already."

Bunnie sighed, "Did you ever think of apologizin' t'him first?" She
said sitting beside her on the bed. It creaked slightly with her weight.

Sally said nothing.

"C'mon now, don't be givin me tha silent treatment. All I'm sayin' is
that maybe for once you should show him yer vuanerable too. Nobody's perfect."

Sally snorted, "Except Shelia."

"Is that what's eatin' you?" Bunnie asked, "You jealous of her?"

"Of course not!" Sally snapped, "That's the stupidest thing I ever
heard! Hmmph! Me being jealous of HER...." She laughed.

Bunnie stared at her skeptically.

"Oh, all right maybe I am a little jealous." Sally admitted.

"So why don't you tell him?" Bunnie asked.

"What? No way. If I ever admitted that to him, he'd laugh in my face."

"Not if he really cares about you." Bunnie said.

Sally opened her mouth to say someting, but then closed it again. She
stared at the ground for a moment. "I guess your right Bunnie. I am being
childish. I should tell him how I feel about this. We're getting nowhere
by not talking. That fluffed up peacock Shelia isn't going to steal my
boyfriend!"

"That a-girl!" Bunnie said happily.

"Where is he anyway?" Sally said standing up.

"Bird-watching." Bunnie said.

"Huh?" Sally asked, confused.

"All the guys are down by the meadow watching the target practice.
Last time Ah saw 'em Sonic wus a-tryin' to teach "Ms. Peacock" how to use a
cross bow."

Sally snorted, "That ought to be a sight."

"Yeah, lets go down thar n' see if'n she's killed anybody yet." Bunnie
said jokingly.

"Yeah!" Sally laughed. "C'mon lets go."

They both headed out the door and through the courtyard until they
came to the path leading to the meadow. They walked down it about a quarter
of a mile until they came to a big grassy clearing which was usually used as
a landing feild for Dulcy, they're crash-landing dragon. Now the feild was
littered with red and white canvas bulls-eyes. Animals were lined up in front
of them taking turns at shooting or throwing weapons like arrows, hatchets,
and javeliens.

Sally and Bunnie were greeted by Rotor and Clawz who were working at
the sidelines on a small laser gun.

"Where'd y'all find that?" Bunnie asked them.

"One of the nurses found it in the pocket of Shelia old clothes." Rotor
said. "It would work, but the magazine was dented where the amunition
cartidge wouldn't fit into it."

"Shelia was carrying a laser gun?" Sally asked herself. "Where did
she get one of those...?"

"I don't know Princess, but I was able to fix it. I straightened out
the metal case, and Clawz was able to find some ammunition that fits in the
parts we recovered from Robotropolis." He explained.

"Have you tested it yet?" She asked.

"Just about to L.P." Clawz said, picking up the small handgun. He
approached one of the targets and stood in front of it.

Sonic and Shelia, who were at the far end of the feild, came to see
what was going on. Sally walked towards them.

"What's going on Sally?" Shelia asked cheerfully.

"Clawz is testing out a laser gun." She said a bit coldly, "One that
was in your possession before the accident."

Shelia looked puzzeled, "I had a gun?" She asked, "Let me see it."

Before Sally or Sonic could protest, she had walked up behind Clawz,
who was trying desprately to figure out how to shoot. She took the gun from
him.

"Hey, what are ya doin'?" He said, surprised.

"I wanna try." She insisted. She inspected the gun for a moment then
held it in front of her at an arms length. She titled her head and closed
one of her eyes, aiming at the target. She pulled the trigger and instantly
a bright purple beam shot out of the barrel and straight into the center
of the bulls-eye. She didn't even flinch.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Let me try that." Sonic said walking up beside her. She handed him
the gun and he aimed and shot, but comepletely missed the target. He looked
at the gun in puzzlement. He gave it back to her. "Do that again." He asked.

Shelia shrugged and aimed once more and landed another shot straight
through the middle.

Sonic looked at her in ammazement. He bent down and pulled a coin from
his shoe. "I want you to try to shoot this." He said.

Shelia aimed the gun at him, still holding the coin.

"No! Wait until I throw it!" He yelled, ducking. Shelia hadn't shot
yet anyway. He stood up again, wiping his brow, and then flung the little
disk high into the air.

Shelia watched, squinting in the sunlight, then raising her gun, she
shot once up into the air. The coin fell seconds later. Sonic picked it up
to find a perfectly centered hole burnt right through it.

"Where in the world did you learn to shoot like that?!" Sally asked,
practically yelling.

"I don't know... I..." Suddenly she threw the gun onto the ground like
it had burned her hand. She grabbed her head in pain and grew dizzy.

Sonic caught her before she could fall. "Shelia! Are you all right?"
He asked.

"Ohhh..." She mumbled, tears brimming on her eyes.

"I better get her back to the doctor." Sonic said, picking her up.

"But Sonic, I wanted to talk to you." Sally said, trying to keep her
mind on what she came here to do.

"Can't it wait, Sal?" He asked, although he didn't wait for an answer,
just zoomed off back down the path.

Sally turned away. Her heart sank. 'Does he even care anymore...?' She
thought sadly. She walked off in the opposite direction.

Bunnie was about to follow her but Clawz caught her arm. She looked
back at him. His usual big smile was now solemn. She sighed and they walked
off back towards Knothole.




* * * * *




"You see, Locke," Archimedes said as he spoke to Knuckles' father in
his secret haven, "Knuckles is posing incredible strengths, more than any
other guardian in recorded history! Besides the great Arora-Sa..."

"But Knuckles? The one of the legend? Why him?" The bearded echidna
said, picking up the ant and holding him in his hand in front of his face.

"I don't know, sir." The ant replied, "But he did find the diamond."

"Like the peice of the lost scrolls said." He mumbled.

"And he did find the book." Archimedes said. "Knuckles is different
than any other guardian I have studied. He may just be the one..."

"My son?" Locke asked, almost proudly, "The reincarnation of the
creator? I must see that book before I belive it."

"As you say, master." Archimedes said and dissapeared, only to
reapear a few seconds later with the 'Story of the Elements' underfoot.

"Wonderful!" Locke said, "You must teach me how to do that sometime."

"Sorry, fire-ant sacred secret." He said jokingly.

At first, the older echidna just sat staring at the book with a
unexpected saddness. He reached up and gently touched the worn cover. He
smiled slightly. "It's been... Years since I've seen this book." He said
finally. "I had always wanted to read it to Knuckles... But... I guess
I was just afraid to." He said solemnly.

"Afraid, Sir?" Archimedes asked.

"Afraid it would remind me of my father. Afraid that I wouldn't be
able to answer my own son's questions... And with Lara-Le gone... I suppose
I didn't want anymore memories." He sighed.

Archimedes was silent. He was frowning.

Locke opened the book to find more than one page filled. This time
the old fasioned femine-style writing extended over seven pages. There was
a skillfully hand-drawn picture at the top of the second page.

Archimedes gasped, "How... How did those get there?!" He asked.

"She's beautiful..." Locke said indicating the picture. It was of a
young echidna female, once a guardian of the stones, he could tell by the
white ring arcross her chest. She was kneeling, with her head looking up at
two large glittering jewels, one white and one black.

"Is that Arora-Sa?" Archimedes asked softly, as they both stared at
the picture in awe.

"Yes... I remember now, this picture, when my father read it to me
when I was young. This same picture was here in this book... That was so
long ago, but I remember it so clearly..." He said. "I wish my father lived
to explain it..."

Archimedes looked at his master's sobering expression. He took off his
hat and held it at his side.

"When the world had colapsed in evil, the light shattered into
four shards..." Locke recited from memory. "And the one with wisdom beyond
her years was able to retrive them, only to concentrate them into a pure
form of a stone. The spirits named her guardian, and marking her with a
white blaze across the chest and around the neck, she and her ancestors
would forever protect them. With the help of the four dieties of light, the
first Guardian had created the four other jewels to imprision the evil. She
trapped the spirits of darkness in them."

"I know the story." Archimedes said, "But I have never actualy heard
it in it's original form... Only as folklore passed down through generations."

Locke turned the page. "It was different before though." He said, "That
page was at the very back, at the end, not the beggining. The story in it's
entirity was over three hundred pages long. I don't understand why it's here...
Unless..." He trailed off.

"Unless what, sir?" Archimedes asked.

He was reading aloud now, "But over the thousand years that have passed
the light has dimmed, and during the Great Breaking the one emerald was
shattered into millions of pieces, each possessing the power of Kayoss, the
most potent evil on the planet. When this happened, the seven other jewels
were spread across the globe in hope of keeping the darkness at bay. For now
there were many emeralds, each possesing the power enough to save, or destroy
a entire world, and with the only way to attain balance was to hide the
others from the evil. It was said that once again Kayoss would rise, but if
the eight jewels were once again brought together, it's force would be
destroyed, and there would be one emerald once more."

"For treasure hunters have found a diamond, but through the odd twists
of destiny, it was once again found by a Guardian. The next Chosen One, who
shall once again hunt the stones, and put to them rightful place, beside the
chaos, to keep it at bay until the others are found..."

"Peace shall rule over, but not for long as the severing beauty of
the mistress of Venus shall weaken and strengthen the One forever. The red
shining jewel Love, a force of light, and the blackness of the stone
heart of Hate shall once again rest in the hands of a Guardian."



* * * * *



Chapter Four: "Only a Memory Away"



It was mid-afternoon in the Great Forest. There was a slight chill in
the air from the incoming winter season. Brown, red, and orange leaves littered
the forest floor like a colorful carpet. The only full trees were the ever-
greens, and even their needles were dulling. Soon snow would be falling.

Knuckles looked down onto the tree tops from the edge of the Floating
Island as it hovered silently above the Great Forest. He turned back to
his friends. "Becareful while I'm gone." He warned.

"Don't worry Knux, man. We've got the groove down on da pad." A green
crocodile with head-phones on said, grinning broadly.

"Yeah, like Vector says, we'll take good care of the place." A big
red and yellow armadillo translated.

"You better, Mighty." Knuckles said. "And no playing frisbee with
my books." He said glared at them a minute.

"I'll make sure of that." A chamelon said, "I'll watch them."

"Thanks, Espio." Knuckles said. he turned to the little bee siting
on a rock beside him. "Charmy, make sure no one sneaks on during the night."

"Righto, Captian!" He said, giving the echidna a salute.

"And Archimedes... Hey, where is he?" Knuckles asked.

"Right here." The ant said as he suddenly appeared in his trademark
poof of smoke on Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles jumped. "Will you tell me when your going to do that?!"

"Sorry. You wanted me?" He asked casually.

"Keep tabs on the Chaos Chamber. Find out what you can about the book,
too." He said, "And make sure these guys are doing what their supposed to."

Archimedes nodded. "Before you go, I want you to remember something."

"Yeah?" Knuckles asked curiously.

"Watch for a..." Archimedes hesitated with thought, "A red beauty
of Venus. And for a heart of Hate."

"What in the world does that mean?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't know. Just... Be careful." He said and poofed away again.

Knuckles sighed, and after bidding his good-byes to the Chaotix team,
he dove off the side of the island and glided down to the forest below. He
had to dodge a couple of trees as he flew down into Knothole, but he was
able to land gracefully on a roof of one of the huts.

"God, it's cold down here!" He mumbled, rubbing his hands together.

"Knuckles!" Someone yelled suddenly.

Caught off guard and startled by the shout, he lost his balance on
the blade of the roof and fell off right onto an unsuspecting Shelia.

"Hey! Are you all right?" Clawz said climbing out the window where
he had stuck his head out and saw the echidna on his roof.

The echidna opened his eyes to find himself sprawled on top of the
most beautiful female he had ever seen. He stared at her in awe for a moment
That scarlet red fur... Something, something about her was so familiar...

Suddenly, as if awakening from a trance, Shelia screamed. She threw
him off with her legs and scrambled up to her feet, leaving the dazed
echidna in the pile of leaves.

"Shelia! It's all right!" Clawz consoled the panting girl. "That's
just my friend Knuckles!" He explianed vaugely.

"Are your friends always falling on top of people?!" She yelled.

Clawz helped Knuckles up. "You all right, man?" He asked.

Knuckles stood up rubbing his head. "Oh yeah, just fine. A minor
concussion is all." He mumbled.

Bunnie and Antoine had heard Shelia's screams and had ran to the
scence. They looked around with confusion as they saw Knuckles brushing
leaves off of himself and a petrified looking Shelia standing behind Clawz,
who was between them.

"What in tha who-ha's goin' on 'round here?" Bunnie asked.

"We bes hearing ze screams, and we was thinking someones be in toubles."
Antoine said, approaching behind her.

"Naw. Knuckles just fell off the roof, thats all." Clawz said simply.

"Yeah, and on top of me!" Shelia added.

"Y'all all right, Shelia-girl?" She asked.

"Just a minor concussion is all." She said, glaring at Knuckles.

Knuckles was still a bit at a loss of words regaurding the pretty
young vixen. She seemed... He wasn't sure, but it was if he allready knew
her... But how...?

Sally walked around the corner to see what the commotion was about.
She smiled when she saw Knuckles. She ran over and hugged him. He was rather
surprised, but hugged her back anyway.

Then Sonic came around the corner.

"Look at tha time!" Bunnie said suddenly, looking at her bare wrist
like it had a watch on it, "Ah just remembered Ah have nurse duty t'day!
See ya!" She said rushing off.

"Wait for moui!" Antoine said following her.

Clawz decided to sit back and watch the action. Shelia stood beside
him still looking a little confused about the whole matter.

"Ahem." Sonic snorted.

Sally looked up. "Oh hello there, Sonic." She said smoothly.

"Hello." He said frowning.

Knuckles let her go, but she still held on.

"I was just greeting our guest." She continued putting her head on
his chest. 'This'll teach him to run off when I'm trying to apologize.' She
thought coldly.

Knuckles felt uneasy. 'What was Sally doing? Trying to get Sonic to kill
me?' He thought. "Uh... Maybe I should be going..." He mumbled.

Sonic glared at him.

Clawz found it his time to step in, "Yeah, Knux, why don't cha come
wit me. I got some uh, stuff t'show ya.." He said grabbing the echidna's
arm.

"Oh.. Yeah, sure, Clawz..." Knuckles said, prying Sally off him. "See
ya later..." He mumbled.

"See ya." She purred, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Everyone, including Knuckles was shocked.

She acted as if nothing had happened and walked straight past the
fuming hedgehog and across the courtyard and into the meeting hall. Sonic
watched her go, and when he turned back, Knuckles and Clawz were gone. He
stared at Shelia for a moment. She shrugged at him.

He grumbled and stalked away in a huff.

"Hoo, boy." Clawz said as he peeked from behind the corner to check
and see if the angry hedgehog had left yet. "Man, if we didn't get outta
there then, he probably woulda killed us both. You fer flirting, and me
fer just bein' an innocent bystander!"

"Me? She was the one doing the flirting!" Knuckles corrected, "Still,
I don't think we sould've run off. That's the cowards way out."

"Yeah, well call me yellow, den." Clawz said. "He was pretty steamed."

"What was up with Sally anyway?" Knuckles asked rubbing his cheek where
she had kissed him, "She's never done that before..." He said, trying not
to smile.

"Aw, she's just tryin' t'make ole Spike jealous." He said.

"Well she certainly pulled that off!" Knuckles said. "Wish she wouldn't
use me as the tool, though."

"Why not? I wouldn't mind L.P. kissin' on me, if ya know what I mean."
Clawz said grinning.

Knuckles frowned at him, "Oh, shut-up." He said.

"Umm.. Excuse me..." Shelia mumbled softly.

Clawz had totally forgotten about her. Knuckles, of course, hadn't.

"Oh, hi again Shelia." Clawz said.

She frowned. "Now what was that all about?" She asked.

"Spikes n' L.P. are still at each others throats. She was tryin' t'make
him jealous using Knux here." Clawz explianed, and not very well.

She blinked at him for a moment, then turned to Knuckles, "Do you
mind translating?" She said.

Knuckles had been staring at her and jumped when she spoke to him.
"Uh.. Er... What?" He asked cluelessly.

Shelia sighed. "Nevermind." She muttered. "I'll see you guys later.
I'm going to see the doctor again. I don't feel so good." She turned and
walked away back towards the court yard. When she was a ways away, she turned
back to glance at them. She watched the big red echidna for a moment. 'Funny,'
She thought, 'But it feels like I know him. Maybe he's a part of my past...
But it doesn't feel that way... So... Different.'

Clawz and Knuckles cautiously turned the corner, still keeping an eye
out for angry hedgehogs, and went inside Clawz's hut. It had been a guest
residence, but he had been living in it for months now, so he has seemingly
claimed it as his own. Besides he wasn't into moving as his junk around
again. It stayed right in it's place, which was usually the floor.

Knuckles stepped over a pile of old magazines. "Nice place." He said
dully, observing the very messy room. "Very uh... Lived in."

"Yeah, I know. Ain't it great?" Clawz said happily, jumping into
a hammock that hung from a low celing beam. He laid on his back with his
hands behind his head.

"Uh... Yeah..." Knuckles mumbled.

"What didya wanna talk t'me about?" Clawz said sitting up and leaning
over to look out the window.

"Who was that girl?" Knuckles asked, wandering from his original
intent to ask about the diamond.

"Who?" Clawz asked.

"The girl I fell on." He clarified.

"Oh, that was just Shelia." Clawz said simply.

"...Shelia...." The echidna mumbled dreamily.

"Quite a babe, eh?" Clawz said smirking.

"Yeah..." Knuckles sighed. "It's the weirdest thing. I feel like I've
known her before... But, I've never seen her before in my life. I would've
remembered someone who... Uh..."

"Has big knockers like her?" Clawz suggested.

Knuckles was a bit surprised at his firend's boldness. "Er.. Yeah, but
I wouldn't put it exactly that way..."

"Well she does." The wildcat insisted. "It's just a fact, ya don't have
'ta be polite 'bout it, but she just does."

"Yeah, well..." Knuckles said.

There was silence for a moment.

"She has a great ass, too." Clawz said abbruptly.

"Clawz..." Knuckles warned, "This story is supposed to be rated PG."

"Oh yeah. I forgot." He said. "That reminds me, I'm hungry."

Knuckles was a bit confused at his reasoning, about how ratings could
remind him of food, but decided to go with him to the mess hall anyway. They
walked out the door and were heading across the court yard when he noticed
Shelia sitting at a table with her face in her hands. He stopped.

"What's up?" Clawz asked.

"You go on Clawz. I'll meet you there later." Knuckles dismissed.

"All right. But I ain't gonna garuntee there'll be food left after
I'm done!" He said, and continued on his way.

Knuckles waited until he was out of sight before approaching the
girl at the table. He stared at her a moment. Her head made little jerking
movements as she cried silently into her palms. He frowned. "Are you all
right?" He asked finally.

She jumped, startled by him. "Oh, it's you." She said, wiping her
eyes and staring at him. "The one that fell on me." She sniffled.

"Sorry about that." He apologized. "My name is Knuckles. Knuckles
Echidna, of the Floating Island." He said.

She sniffed again. "My name is Shelia ClearWaters. I don't know where
I come from." She said sadly.

"Nice to meet you, Miss ClearWaters..." Knuckles tried to say calmly.
He managed a kind of stammer. He bowed gently. 'Shelia ClearWaters,' He
thought, 'What a beautiful name.'

"Nice to meet you, too..." She said smiling weakly.

He sat down across from her. "Why were you crying?" He asked softly.

Her throat tightened. "Because I can't remember." She sadly.

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"I was being chased by some robots, or so they say, and I hit my head,
and now I can't remember anything from before that. They say it's Amnesia."
She muttered sadly.

"I'm sorry. Are you all right?" He asked felling sorry for her.

"Yeah." She sniffed. "I'll get along."

"Maybe you should look at it as a good thing. You get to start your
whole life over agian, without any bad memories or mistakes you made in
your past. You've got a clean slate. I sometimes wish I could forget a lot
of my past." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Well I don't see it that way." She argued, but weakly, "What about
all the good memories? What about my family? Did I even have one? Do they
miss me? Did anyone ever love me? So many questions left unanswered. I hate
it." She whimpered, tilting her heard slightly for her cheek to rest on her
arm. "I don't even remember my own mother. I don't remember being a child,
having no worries, and having your parents to protect you. Someone to hold
you when you cry..." She sniffed unhappily, wiping her eyes and trying not
to cry.

Now Knuckles' throat was tight. 'Poor little thing...' He thought.
'She doesn't deserve this kind of torture.' He reached over and touched her
arm gingerly. "Please, Shelia... Don't cry..." He pleaded. "I'm sure one day
you'll remember. Everything's going to be all right..."

She continued to weep. "No I won't! I'll never remember! I'll never
anything, and everyone will go on treating me like a idiot forever. I'll
never.. Never..." She began to sob.

Knuckles looked absolutely terrified. He had no clue what to do to
to console the crying girl. His lip twitched slightly with confusion. He
wanted to help her, but just wasn't quite sure how. He stood up and walked
around the table and sat beside her. "Shelia, don't cry... Please... Don't
get upset..." He pleaded helplessly. He hated not being able to do anything
to help her. He put a hand on her back. "Look here, now... Crying's not
going to acomplish anything. If you want to remember, you have to try. And
you do want to remember don't you?" He asked.

She sniffled softly and looked up. "Of course I do." She said softly,
wiping her eyes.

"Let me help you then." He said firmly.

She blinked skeptically at him, "You really mean it? You'd help me?"
She asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not?" He said.

She smiled weakly. "Wow." She said, "Thank you."

"My pleasure, but I haven't done anything yet." He said.

"Well, where do we start?" She asked eagerly.

He smiled too. "I remember I would have to memorize all these rules
and stuff for these tests my father would give me. There were like a million
of them. Right when I would get the test, my mind would go blank." He said.
"It really sucked."

She giggled, "Yeah, I bet."

"Anyways, I came up with this way of remembering. It quite easy really.
All you do is think of one thing, just anything, it could be as small as a
speck of dust, and you just concentrate on it. Sooner or later, it grows,
and you remember." He explained. "Now you try."

Shelia thought for a while. She squinted in concentration. "I... I have
this picture in my mind, that I can't quite make out..." She mumbled.

"Just start small. What is one thing you do remember? It can be a
sound, a feeling, an object, anything."

"I remember.. Ummm..." She struggled, "Oh, I don't remember anything!!"

"Just try Shelia." He urged. "If you really want to remember, I'm
sure you can. Close your eyes and relax."

She obeyed silently. She took a deep breath. It was a moment before
she spoke again. "I remember... Heat." She said simply.

"Heat?" He said confused, "What do you mean?"

"Like weather heat. A hot day." She said. "Everything was dry..."

"That's good!" He encouraged, "Just concentrate on that."

"Heat... Dry... No water..." She said, staring out into the meadow
again thoughtfully.

"Like a desert or someting." Knuckles said. "Weird."

Shelia stood up like a shot, knocking Knuckles out of his seat. "What?
What did you say!?" She yelled.

Knuckles staggered back up to his feet, "Well I didn't mean to offend..."
He stammered.

"No, no!" She said grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "What did
you say before that!"

"Eh, I.. I uh.. I said.. it's like.. a desert.. or something.." Knuckles
said while Shelia was still shaking him wildly.

"That's it!" She screamed suddenly, letting go of him. He fell on the
ground again. "That's it! A desert! That's where I lived!" She exclaimed.

Knuckles staggered to his feet again only to be tackled by the female.
"OH, THANK YOU!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. He had to hold onto
the table to keep from falling over once again.

"I remember! I remember everything!" She laughed, "I remember the
desert and the caves and Momma, Jem, and Maria!"

Shelia was still laughing happily. Knuckles wasn't quite sure what
to make of the estatic girl, but was pleasantly surprised when she kissed him.
She let go of him and he fell over again.

Suddenly Shelia's joy wore off. Her smile faded. "Momma..." She said
softly as she sunk to her knees. "Oh no... I gotta.. I gotta.." She mumbled,
as she felt her energy suddenly drain. Blackness fell onto her, until she
was comepletely eveloped in darkness.



* * * * *



"What is the matter darling?" A tall man, a human, asked to a shorter,
very beautiful, but angry looking woman.

"Nothing. And don't call me darling." She snorted.

"There must be someting the matter," He said ignoring her attitude and
encircling her waist with his arms from the back, "You seem so distant." He
whispered.

She didn't struggle, "Soon all the others will be here." She mumbled.
"I don't need your servants running around here interrupting all my doings!"

"Is that's what's itching at you, darling?" He said bending down and
resting his chin on her shoulder. "You want us to be... alone?" He purred.

She frowned. "You know very well why I don't want them to come. They'll
ruin all my plans!" She pouted, blowing her dark green hair out of her eyes.

"What kind of 'plans' did you have in mind?" He said kissing her on
the neck.

She shrugged him off. "Cut it out, Ace." She growled. "Sometimes I
wish you never came, either!"

He remained calm and totlally content. "I know you don't really mean
that, Kay darling." He said evenly. "Your just too tense. Don't worry so
much. It'll give you wrinkles."

She laughed indignantly, "Bah. Now that's stupid." She said, "You
know I don't get wrinkles." She said smiling.

"Oh really?" He said cooly, "Then what's that?" He said pointing to
her forhead.

She shreiked and rushed over to a shimering green wall, one that
surrounded them both, with a white wall on the right that faded into a green
on the right, with everchanging angles. She stared at her reflection for
a while, checking every feature, then strode back to the man, who was standing
in the white side, and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ah! Gettin weak there, Kayoss?" He said softly not even flinching.

"Shut-up!" She snarled, "And I don't have wrinkles! Or have you
forgotten that were both immortal. Idiot!" She snapped.

He just smiled at her, "Darling, we may be ageless and extemely
powerful, but we are not immortal. That is why your so edgy I bet. Afraid
of the Guardian, eh?"

"I am not!" She yelled. "Just wait until Rona and Rakar get here! We'll
show you! No weakling Guardian is going to imprision me for a thosand years
in some stupid emerald again!"

He continued smiling. "Really? Have you spoken to The Masters about
your little proposition?" He said.

She paled slightly. "Well... No." She mumbled, then grew more confident,
"But I don't care. I shall do whatever I want."

"Oh, you are droll." He laughed softly, "Thinking you can manipulate
The Proficies? Life and Death shall not have it."

She just hissed at him. "Fine. Stay in your stupid diamond for all I
care. I won't miss you when I'm ruling the universe." She spat finally.

"So sure of yourself." He laughed, "I bet you will miss me. Who else
shall you rule with? That egg-head Julian son of Ivo?"

"Surely you jest!" She snapped.

"No I don't. And don't call me Shirley." He said smirking.

She ignored that comment. "I don't need any man to stand over me!
Certainly not you or some foolish human!"

"Really?" He said approaching her, "Are you that strong, my darling?
Stonger than I?"

She stared at her equivalent with a raging inferno in her eyes. "Maybe
I'm stronger than you think." She said coldly.

"Really?" He said smiling again, taking her chin in his palm and
raising her face to look at him. "I have always adored strong women."

She would've spat in his face if he hadn't kissed her then.



* * * * *


The deep metallic-blue robot sped through the barren city streets of
the polluted Robotropolis. Old papers and glass from broken windows flew
into the air as it flew by with a booming hum. It crossed though the junkyard
and past a heap of scrap metal, and stopped to get a report from a pair of
SwatBots on guard there.

Unseen by the detectors of the three other robots, another secretly
watched and listened from inside the seemingly innocent pile of scrap.
He gasped slightly at the sight of the blue metallic robot. "A Mecha-Sonic."
He whispered in surpise.

"SwatBot 757623 reporting, sir." One of the SwatBot's droned.

"Any activity?" Mecha asked impatiently tapping it's foot.

"No sir. No unusual activity sited." It said.

The head-robot looked dissapointed. "Keep on your guard. And be on
alert. We might need back-up when the Freedom Fighters find the rebel desert
base."

"An attack at a rebel desert base? And a new Mecha-Sonic too? What has
Robotnik been up to?" The forth watching robot whispered to himself in an old
and worn out voice. "I better check with the Princess about this." He watched
until the blue robot had sped off and away from the junkyard before he booted
up his computer and sent a message to the Freedom Fighters in Knothole Village.

"Uncle Chuck?" Sally said as she appeared on his screen, "Something
the matter? I got a red alert from you."

"I'm afraid, Princess, that the red alert was more than nessecary."
The robotic light-blue hedgehog said solemnly. "Robotnik has created a
Mecha Sonic!"

Sally gasped. "A Mecha-Sonic?!" She yelled, "But.. But how?? Don't
they need Sonic to do that?"

"I thought so too. He is there, right?" Uncle Chuck said hopefully.

"Unfortunately." Sally said under her breath.

"What was that Princess?" Uncle Chuck asked.

"Yeah, he's here." She answered. "What I don't understand is how
Robotnik could construct something like that without a DNA sample from him."

"Me either Princess. And that's not the only problem we have on our
hands." He said.

Sally frowned, "What now?"

"I heard from Mecha-Sonic itself that Robotnik is planning to attack
you guys at a desert rebel base." He explianed.

"Desert rebel base? We don't have plans about going anywhere like that."
Sally said with a perplexed look on her face.

Uncle Chuck had the same look. "How odd. Well, just keep a look out,
all right Princess?"

She smiled. "I will, Sir Charles. Thank you. Your information is always
welcomed." She said. "I'll have to ask Sonic about the Mecha. Good bye."

"Good bye, Princess." He said, and vanished from the screen.

Sally sat silently at her desk for a moment. Everything was getting
so complicated and confusing lately. She sighed. "Why do things change?"
She muttered softly, "I wish everything was like it used to be. Where things
were simple, and Sonic always came back to me..."



* * * * *



Coming around the corner, an absentmided Clawz ran smack-dab into
the still steaming blue hedgehog. Before the cat could flee though, Sonic
grabbed him by the tail and forced him into a corner.

"Hiyas there, Spikes!" Clawz said cheefully, although nervously,
"Eh heh... How's it goin'?"

Sonic ignored him, "Where's the echidna?" He growled.

"Who?" Clawz said innocently.

"Knuckles, dammit." Sonic snarled.

"Oh, ho... Him!" Clawz said slowly, sweat apppearing on his forhead.
Even though the big wildcat was atleast a foot taller than the hedgehog,
he wasn't stupid enough to get in a rumble with this speed demon. "He's
over somewhere." He said dimly.

"Do you mind being a little more specific?" Sonic said stiffly.

"Over there, in th'courtyard." Clawz said gulping, "Now lay off
will ya?"

Sonic backed off a bit. "Sorry. Thanks for the info, Clawz." He said
calmly, reverting into his usual, non-threatening tone. "I don't see what
you or Sal can see in that jerk." He snorted.

"Aw, c'mon. You'd like him if ya actually got to know him. Hey, he's
really a lot like you." Clawz said.

"No way!" Sonic said, "How un-cool is that?"

"I think it's great. You two would be like best buds if you weren't
fightin' all th'time. Besides, the only reason you're mad at 'im is because
of Lil' Princess, right?"

Sonic was silent a moment. "Maybe. But either way, I'm gonna kick
his butt for hanging all over her like that." He said stubbornly, and
headed towards the courtyard. Clawz followed in his heels, hoping to catch
some of the action and fill Bunnie in later.

Sonic rounded the corner, but then stopped and backed up, almost
running into the persuing wildcat in the process. Clawz jumped back, avoiding
trying to get a face-full of quills.

"What's th'matter?" He asked.

Sonic didn't answer, just rushed into the court yard to help Knuckles
pick up the uncounsious Shelia.


* * * * *



"What in the who-ha happened t'her?" Bunnie asked as Sonic carried
Shelia into the infermary for the third time.

"She fainted." He explained vaugely.

"Again?" Bunnie asked.

"You mean she's done this before?" Knuckles asked as he followed
close behind Clawz, remembering to keep his distance from Sonic.

"This'd be her second time, not includin' the first time when she
hit her head." Clawz said.

"Will.. Will she be okay?" He asked hopefully.

"She has before." The doctor said as he suddenly appeared. He hovered
around the room giving orders and asking questions. He singled out Knuckles
after a moment. "Where you with her when this happened?" He asked shrewdly.

"Uh, Yes. Yes, sir." Knuckles answered aprehensively.

"Well, what happened?" The doctor snapped.

"Uh, well, we were uh, talking and I was trying to help her get her
memory back." He explianed.

"Well did she?" The doctor said frowning as he leaned towards the
echidna, as if examining him.

Knuckles backed away. "Did she what?" He asked.

"Remember anything?" He snapped back.

"Oh. Yeah, she remembered a desert, and a cave and some other stuff..."
Knuckles said uneasily.

"AHA!" The doctor suddenly shouted.

Sally rushed in about then. "What's going on here?" She demanded.

Sonic was setting the still unconious Shelia on a fold-out medical
bed, and looked up as Sally came in. "She fainted again." He answered.

Sally frowned. 'Again??' She thought. "What happened to her?"

"It seems," The doctor answered, "That her memories came flooding back
to her, and kind of, well overrided." He explained.

"I didn't know it would affect her that way..." Knuckles apologized.

"Well, I suppose it is a good thing, her remembering. But all of it
coming back at one time, well is a bit overwelming." Doc said.

"I just hope she'll be all right." Knuckles said.

"Sure she will. All she needs is a little rest and recoupreation."

Just as the doctor said that, Shelia sat up straight. "Wh-What's going
on here?" She asked.

"Shelia?" Sonic asked, turning around, surpised that she had already
awakened.

She took one look at him and burst into screams. "Get--Get away from
m-me you you--!!" She yelled, hitting him repeatedly with a pillow.

"She--What--Ow! --Stop-- Shelia!" Sonic defended wildly.

Knuckles ran over and grabbed her arms, holding her back. "Shelia!
Calm down! It's all right..." He soothed.

She stared at him with perplexity for a moment. She blinked with
realazation. "Knuckles..?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, it's me. Don't worry, just calm down."

"Geez, Shelia! Are you done wacking me to death allready?!" Sonic
snapped, rubbing his head.

"Sorry." She pouted. "I thought you were..." She jumped up suddenly.
"OH MY GOD!" She yelped.

"What's the matter now?" Sonic said.

She had a horrified look on her face. "We've got to hurry! We have to
help them! Please, you have to help them!" She ranted, jumping off the bed
and running to Sally.

"Help who? What are you talking about?" Sally asked confused.

"My family! My village! The blue monster was attacking us! I got away,
but--But you have to help us! Please!" She begged.

"Blue monster?" Sonic asked quzically.

"Yes! The one that looks like you!" She said to him. "I thought you
were it, but.. but..."

"You mean a Mecha-Sonic was attacking you?" Sally asked.

Shelia nodded sadly. "Please, I'm begging you... My family, they'll
all die if we don't... If you don't..." She sobbed.

"I think you need to lie down." Knuckles said.

"I DON'T need to LIE DOWN!" She shouted hysterically.

Knuckles was taken aback.

"Please, our base in the desert..." Shelia sobbed gently, "We need
your help... Please..." She pleaded.

'Base in the desert??' Sally thought. An alarm went off in her head.

"Don't worry Shelia, I'm sure we'll be able to help you." Sonic said.

"Wait a second. I don't think that's such a good idea, Sonic." Sally
said suddenly.

"What are you talking about Sally?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're not going anywhere." She said sternly.

Shelia's eyes grew wide. "Wh-what..." She whispered.

"What do you mean Sally?" Knuckles asked.

"I mean exactly what I said. We're not going anywhere. There's no
way I'm falling for a trap like that." She sneered.

"What are you talking about?" Shelia asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Fluffy!" Sally snarled back at her, "Everyone
else may have fallen for your innocent amnesia-stricken girl act, but I
sure didn't! I've seen straight through you the entire time!"

Shelia looked terrified, "Wh-what are.. What are you--" She stammered,
her eyes welling on the verge of tears.

"You know what I'm talking about!!" She spat. "Being chased by robots,
the whole memory-loss bit, the laser gun, the desert rebel base, the Mecha
Sonic!"

"I.. I don't know... What you're..." She whimpered.

"Oh, and cut out the blubbering bit! I've seen better actors on
Jerry Springer!!" Sally yelled.

Knuckles ssuddenly pushed her away. "Sally, stop it!" He ordered.

Sally was surprised by his sudden interjection. She backed away.

"Leave her alone!" He warned, "She hasn't done anything!"

Shelia sniffled, watching him. 'Why is he defending me...?' She thought.

"Oh, hasn't she!" Sally said, regaining her courage and converging
on the echidna, "She's a spy! Sent by Robotnik! Her plan is to lure us into
that 'desert base' of hers, then attack! Uncle Chuck himself gave me the
report himself! He heard the Mecha-Sonic giving orders to stand by incase
they need back-up, it's all true!" She explained.

Knuckles was confused now. He turned to Shelia, "Is it... True?" He
asked softly.

"No..." She mumbled, "Please belive me... Someone has to..." She sobbed.
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. True tears, the ones of a true
innocent. With such purity, those tears fell. He could sense something
inside him that told him she wasn't lying.

"Sally," He said turning back to her, "I don't know what you're talking
about, or what anyone is talking about. But I do know one thing. I belive
her, and if she's in trouble, I'm going to help her."

Shelia smiled weakly at him. "Oh god, thank you..." She whimpered.

"Yeah, me too." Sonic said, standing beside him. Knuckles stared at
him with surprise for a moment. Sonic glanced at him. "Finally, we come to
an agreement." He mumbled.

Sally was aghast. "You're both fools! Can't you see what's she's doing?
She's tricked you, all of you. Robotnik knew you were suckers for a pretty
face! And look now, it's all worked! You fell for it!" She yelled.

"But what if she is tellin' th' truth?" Clawz asked. "What if her
family really is in trouble? Are we just going to let 'em die?"

"It's all a lie! She is lying! There is no family in trouble!" Sally
shouted, "Can't you see?"

"But what if there is?" Sonic said. "Even if there is the slightest
possibility there's someone who needs my help, I'm there. I thought that
was our motto; Help the ones that need help, and fight for a better Mobius?"
He asked sternly.

"But, but..." Sally stammered, feeling defeat upon her, "If we do go,
we could be attacked..."

"So what?" Sonic asked, growing bolder. "I could beat those 'bots
anytime, any day of the week."

Sally turned back to the others, "Bunnie, you understand don't you?"
She asked pleadingly.

"Ah... Ah don't know, Sally-girl..." She mumbled.

"What?!" Sally yelled in shock.

"Ah mean, it is our duty to help everyone. An iffn's there's even uh
possiblity..." She continued, struggling.

"Oui, she is correct. We are ze 'Freedom Fighters', no?" Antoine
backed. "I hate to be admitting zis, but I am weeth ze hedgehog and Monsuire
Echidna."

Sally was deflated. "You're all insane..." She muttered.

"If you don't want to come, fine. But we're going where our help is
needed." Sonic said. "Goodbye, Princess..." He finished, and walked stiffly
out the door, followed by Knuckles, helping Shelia, Antoine, and a slightly
reluctant Bunnie.

Sally stood there with her mouth opened. "I can't belive it..." She
muttered to herself.

"It is hard to belive. I mean, I thought you were th' one givin' orders
'round here."

She turned around. "Clawz?" She mumbled in surpise, "You mean you
belive me?"

"Sure I belive you, L.P.," He said, "But I also belive Shelia."

Sally was confused. "What?"

"I don't belive much of anyting until it's proven." He said. "But I
do belive that everybody d'serves a chance. Even guys like me."

"So, what are you saying? I should go with them?" She asked.

"I'm not the one to decide that." He said, "I know what it's like to
be accused of sometin', and how awful it feels when no one belives you. You
guys, I know had accused me of a buncha things, and most of them I did. But
that doesn't mean I couldn't change, to be a better animal, and be smarter,
like you, L.P."

Sally was at a loss of words. "Maybe.. Maybe I..." She began finally.
"I have a one track mind... I only belive myself... That's one of my faults.
I never liked Shelia, just because Sonic was paying more attention to her
than to me, maybe I just want her to get in trouble, so everything can go
back to the way it used to be..." She said softly. "And all the evidence...
It all says that she's a spy... I don't understand wny no one else can see
it the way I do."

Clawz chuckled, "Don't we all wish others thought the way we do?" He
said, "It's the life long stuggle. But maybe for once, you should go out on
a limb. Not for Shelia, not for me, but for yourself, and maybe even for
Sonic." He said.

"When did you get so philosophical?" She asked, smiling weakly.

"Hey, I learned it all from you, Little Princess. You gave me the
chance to prove myself, and hell... I guess I'd have to make it up to you
somehow." He said grinning.

She smiled and looked down at the floor. When she looked up, he was
walking towards the door.

"Hey, wait for me!" She called, and ran after him.





* * * * *



The End...

Wow what a horrible ending... Kinda leaves you at a cliff hanger. Well I
guess you'll have to figure the rest out own your own... For now!

To be continued...
Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Am I getting _way_ too preachy or what?

Keep a look out for my next exciting story: "Vengeance of an Innocent" or
"The Guardian's Strength and Weakness!" Love and Hate part 2!

Thanks fer reading my newest Sonic fan-fiction story! Hoped you liked it!

Notes from el writero:

First of all, I'd like to thanks all my fans!! Thank-you for writing, and
keep it up! I love yas! Thanks to: Sonia, Tyro (as always), The Sonic Entity,
Charity Haney, Knuckles@netwiz, Knuckles@aol, KtieKaboom, Ian Kubitza, Warp,
Chad Harding and the Cracked Bulb, Gina, Melissa, Glazius Falconar, and a
whole bunch of others! Sorry if that list was long, I wanted to thank
everyone who wrote me :D

ANYway...

Hope everybody enjoyed my newest character: Shelia the sexy, but forgetful
vixen. At first, she was going to take Julie-Su's place in my stories, to
better differ from the comics, but recent developments have lead me to decide
otherwise. Although I do plan on Shelia being our red echidna hero's love
intrest, Julie-Su might very well interrupt that. I found Julie to be a
very intriguing character, and plan to do great things with her, so don't go
flaming me. (Please!)

Also, I have a plot-line of my own that rather differs from either the
comic or the series. I don't make all that stuff so complicated,
ex: Knuckles family members and all the Dark Legion junk is extemely
simplified. Number one: All the guardians are dead 'cept for Knuckles, his
father Locke, and Knuckles'great-grandfather Athair. Oh yeah, and Kragok
master of the Dark Legion, but instead of being some distant cousin or
whatever he is in the comic, he's Knuckles' Uncle, or ulimately Locke's
evil older brother. Number two, there is an Ixus Nagus, from the TV series,
whom kept King Acorn locked in the void, but is actually going to turn out
to be Death in it's most powerful form. I seem to get a bit off track with
all the technology stuff, so it's actaully more fantasy-epic like. Any
questions? Good. Class dissmissed.

Once again, thanks for reading!

~Erin Lindsey =^.^=
E-mail me your questions, comments, and anything else to:
diamondneko@mail.com



Disclaimer:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Legalities: Okay. ready, set go!!!
Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, the Freedom
Fighters, the Chaotix, Dr. Robotnik, and any related
characters are licensed characters of SEGA and Co.
and/or DIC and Archie Adventure series Comics. Clawz the
Wildcat, Shelia ClearWaters, Kayoss Emerald, Ace Diamond,
Rona Amethyst, Venus Ruby, and Lysander were created by
Erin Lindsey. If you want any of my stories on your site,
or want to use any of my characters, you must have written
consent of my authorization, beforehand. In other words,
you better e-mail me first, or I'll... I'll... Uh, I dunno
but, I bet it will be extremely painful!

Send any complications to:
diamondneko@mail.com